Medium
by Meli Miyoko
Summary: While investigating a series of hauntings in southern Florida, Sam and Dean encounter a young girl who's methods for dealing with earth-bound spirits are very different from what they're used to. They offer to help her solve a haunting involving a man in an empty apartment building, unwittingly getting caught up in the hunt for his killer.
1. Tenement

Greetings,

This is the first bit of proper writing I've done in months, and it feels great to be back in the game! Constructive feedback is more than welcome! I hope that you enjoy my little romp!

 **PLEASE NOTE:** At the time I started writing this little fic last night (July 3rd, 2015), I've only seen the first three episodes of season 10 and will not be watching the season in its entirety until it goes up on Netflix later in the year. So if anything in the first few chapters doesn't gel with the plot of the last season, that's why.

Also! The character of Meli is one of my own creation. She's a personal character (though she is not much like me) that I created when I was a kid and has stayed with me ever since. In this story, she meets the Winchesters and opens their eyes to a different way of doing things. If there is one thing about Supernatural that I have always taken issue with its the way it deals with human spirits, ghosts. I always felt it was harsh and forgot that they were people once, you know? Anyway, enjoy!

Weston, Florida

November, 2014

 **1: Tenement**

"This is the place," Sam affirmed, peaking around his brother to get a look out the driver's side window at the building "it's smaller than I thought it'd be."

"Good," Dean replied shortly "less ground to cover. Let's deal with this thing and find a place to crash," he stifled a yawn and jammed the Impala into park "I'm whipped."

Sam hummed a sound of understanding as they climbed out into the pleasant November night. The drive down from Jacksonville had gotten underway with only five hours of sleep between them, and now they were both feeling the familiar effects of a sleepless road trip. They didn't take much from the trunk, Dean grabbed his shotgun and Sam slipped two small pistols into his waistband, along with a knife and a holy water flask. Hopefully unnecessary, but it made him feel better prepared.

Looking around at the small parking lot, Sam saw much of the same thing he'd been seeing since they'd passed over the Weston city limit; neatness. It had been— he didn't know how long— since he'd seen a town like this, clipped, polished and trimmed to perfection. Even this small tenement, not currently in operation, looked like it'd been given the once-over on a daily basis, he knew a place like this must be weirding Dean out in ways that monsters never had.

The first entrance they tired was the front door, an obvious choice. The door to the small front office and entry way didn't give, and the lock appeared to have been welded shut, a detail that piqued Sam's interest, _I guess even suburbs like this can have a crime problem_ , he thought. How easy it was to forget that.

"Screw it," Dean said, nudging his brother's shoulder with the butt of his gun where he was kneeling to examine the lock "c'mon, let's try around back."

Sam covered Dean as they skirted around the side of the building that was angled away from the road and the glow of the street lamps. They padded over the dewy lawn keeping close to the wall until they came upon a side door. It looked heavy and the lock was unobstructed. Dean gave a nod that signaled he'd keep watch, and Sam pulled out his lock picks. He knew Dean's eyes would be tracing every silhouette from the nearby bushes to the trees at the water line of a pond at the other end of the lawn. When he was kneeling again, examining the key slot, Sam spotted something he wasn't expecting to see.

"Hey, Dean," he whispered "take a look at this."

Dean abandoned his survey of the lawn to put his face next to his brother's in order to see what he was pointing to. Narrow but deep scratches around the key hole and handle. Dean placed the pads of three fingers over the scratches to feel them and came away with the tiniest amount of a fine metallic powder which he showed to Sam.

"These are fresh, a couple of hours at most."

"You think another hunter came through here?"

"I doubt it, but keep your eyes peeled."

Sam tried the handle. He was honestly surprised when it gave under his hand and he was able to shove the door open. The hallway was dark but for the focused beams of their flashlights. Sam shone his light over the floor just in front of his feet where there was a bit of dirt tracked on the carpet, which upon closer inspection, he found was still slightly damp. Without needing to think about it, he drew one of the guns from his hip and let his big brother take the lead. He also switched on his EMF detector in his pocket. The device crackled a little, but it didn't seem to be picking up anything in particular. Hell, if the place had been recently occupied; which seemed likely given the state of the interior, the tiny spikes of energy could have been left over from the people who'd stayed here.

"Anything?" Dean asked, rejoining his brother after scoping out the rest of the corridor.

"Nothing much," Sam replied "but it looks like something's been through here recently." He nodded down to his hip where the lights of the EMF were blinking through his jeans.

"You think it could be whoever broke that lock?"

"I don't know." Sam looked down at the shell of the old Walkman perplexed "All living things give off EMF, but it would take at least a dozen people all packed together to produce even half the energy that a spirit can because it's not as potent."

"There's defiantly somethin' here," Dean said, looking over his shoulder "this place is giving me the creeps."

Sam smiled a small, satisfied smile, _I knew it would_. He followed Dean up to the second floor. He allowed himself to focus completely on the space in which he was standing, Sam had to admit that his brother was right, this place was definitely unsettling. He could feel eyes on him and, despite (or perhaps, because of) years of experience, he kept looking over his shoulder expecting to see someone following them up the carpeted hallways.

It wasn't until they reached the fourth and final floor of the tenement that the EMF detector picked up on something. It sputtered and whirred as Sam pulled it from his pocket and let it lead him. Dean followed close behind, shotgun at the ready. This routine was second nature to them both, and they fell into it with ease. Sam swept by each apartment door, clearing it and moving on, the whirring getting louder with every step. When they came upon a door numbered D11, the EMF detector was maxed out, screaming and spitting its strange alarm that no longer irritated Sam the way it once had.

Sam looked back to Dean, who checked his salt rounds instinctually before nodding to his brother. Sam through the door open and Dean entered, braced to fire. They stepped into the front room of one of the one bedroom apartments, cleared of all but the basic fixtures. In the corner, facing the wall, stood the figure of a man in a wrinkled button-up and slacks. He ginger hair was matted and filthy and there were obvious wounds on the exposed skin of his hands and neck. As he turned he fritzed and flickered, staring past the brothers with a mournful look in his hazel eyes.

"Well, whatta ya know" Dean mused.

At the sound of Dean's voice, the ginger haired man's gazed snapped to them and he let out a long, sorrowful cry— stepping towards them on shaking legs. Dean racked up a round and took aim, Sam took a reflexive step back.

"Wait!" a high voice cried "Don't shoot, please don't shoot!"

The ghost advanced on them and Dean took his shot, the salt round ripping through the air and exploding against the wall behind him— tearing into it. The man was flickering in and out at such lengthy intervals that the shot had not touched him.

"The hell—" Dean quickly lowered the barrel as a girl darted into the room and placed herself between it and the spirit.

"Shit!" the girl hissed and raised her hands out so her arms were parallel with the floor. She drew in a long breath and exhaled as the ghost tried to evaporate. As she let out her breath, something seemed to hold the man in place and he wailed again. The EMF device began to alarm again and Sam held it closer to the girl on a whim. Sure enough, it rang louder when it was pointed towards her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean barked.

Whatever she was doing quickly burned out and the ginger man vanished, leaving this young girl breathless and shaky. Dean swore loudly.

"Oh, great, now look what you did!" she and Dean shouted at each other in near unison.

Sam stepped around his brother and put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from advancing on the girl. "What were you doing? He could have shot you."

"That would be just like a hunter," the girl snapped, an icy gleam in her pale blue eyes, "shoot first and ask questions later!"

"You shouldn't even be here, kid." Dean stated.

"No, _you_ shouldn't be here, hunter. I keep having to chase you people out of town, all you do if get in my way."

Sam interrupted his brother before he could respond. "You're the one who broke the lock on the back door, aren't you?"

"Yeah, how else was I supposed to get in? You gonna call the cops?"

Sam prided himself on his ability to read people. He had always been the more social sibling but he could also get a sense of someone more easily (or more readily) than Dean could, and he was generally more diplomatic— both valuable traits in a field where not only did you have to deceive most everyone you met, but most of your colleagues were hot blooded renegades with advanced weaponry. _And_ where, as the girl had said, the attitude was usually to ask questions later.

This girl, probably no more than eighteen years old, was posturing. She spat harsh words but her body language told a different story. She had her thumbs hooked in her pockets but her shoulders were hunched and her upper body looked like it was trying to turn in on itself.

"Ok," Sam said evenly "I'm Sam, this is my older brother Dean. And he's _not_ going to shoot you!"

He gave Dean a withering look when he felt the barrel of the shotgun twitch against his leg.

"Meli" the girl said quietly.

"Hey, Meli." He saw her relax a little "what are you doing here?"

"And how do you know about hunters?" Dean chimed in, still carrying an edge in his voice.

"You said you keep turning hunters away from here, right? Do you mean this building?"

"No, I mean this town. For the past few months hunters keep turning up and getting in my way."

"And what is it that they're getting in the way of?" Sam asked.

"My job. You roll into town with your guns and exorcisms and treat these people like your prey." She gestured angrily to where the ginger haired man had been standing behind her.

" _People?"_ Dean asked, accusatorily "You mean ghosts?"

"God, I swear I get the same response every time!"

"They're just ghosts, kid. If you don't deal with them they just lose control. Somebody could get hurt." Dean explained, not bothering to hide his growing anger at being c-blocked like this.

"That's exactly what I'm doing, _dealing_ with them. But that doesn't mean destroying innocent people."

Again, Sam stopped his brother from saying something they'd all regret. "They're not always innocent, Meli."

"Not all of them, but you hunters are wrong, they can be helped. Just get out of here and let me get back to work." She looked around the room "Damn it, it took me weeks to draw him out" she muttered to herself.

"So what, you fancy yourself a hunter or something?" Dean mocked, obviously having not heard the disdain in Meli's voice.

"Hell no," she snapped "not in a million years!"

"Then what the hell?" he made his voice calm and leaned his gun against the nearest wall.

"Maybe we can help," Sam offered, ignoring Dean offended stare "who was that gh— man?"

Meli considered them for a long moment, something in her expression told Sam that what she really wanted to do was turn them away. She stared into Sam's earnest eyes and relented.

"You're not going to leave, are you?"

"Nope," Dean replied with an artificial, impish smile "so why not fill us in."

Meli groaned to herself and said "Fine, but not here. Someone will have heard that shot, the cops will be here any minute. You can come back with me and I'll explain, on one condition."

"And what's that?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"You give me a lift in the sick Chevy."


	2. Meli

**Dean is being a total jerk for some reason in this chapter. Maybe he's just sleep deprived...**

 **2: Meli**

A few minutes and two stop lights later, the Impala pulled up in front of a hotel painted in several vibrant colors. Dean stared up at it when he got out, he honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing— pink, yellow, blue and green walls with window frames and shutters of interchanging colors.

The girl… Meli, was it? Yeah. Meli climbed out of the back seat and gestured for them to follow her into the lobby. At least she was polite enough not to slam Baby's already creaking door. The reception area just off the vestibule was much more normal than Dean had been expecting. Just a simple desk with matching chairs by the window and a few leafy, if only sparsely so, potted plants.

Meli stepped into the room adjacent to the lobby, the dining room, and went to the counter at the back where sat a few coffee dispensers. He looked back over his shoulder to Sam when the kid beckoned them to a table in the back with a wave of her hand. Sam gave him a 'why not' kind of look and walked on ahead of his brother.

Once seated, Dean looked around warily, it was habit. He could hear people moving in the kitchen though it was nearly midnight and saw a shadow move in the font room as the receptionist returned to the counter.

"Alright," he ordered "start talkin'."

"Anyone ever tell you you're a real charmer?"

"Yeah, a few folks."

She stared back at him defiantly, daring him to be rude to her again.

Sam broke the silence "Feel free to pretend he's not here. So you said you've been doing this for a few months, at least. What exactly is it that you do? You said you help the spirits, right?"

"Yeah, I've been doing it for about a year now." Meli answered.

Dean's right brow twitched. "Doing what exactly?"

"Dean—" Sam said reproachfully.

"Oh, c'mon! You're really willing to buy whatever crap she tells you about _helping_ people?"

"Hey, screw you! You don't know the first thing about me." Meli bit back.

"I know what I saw you do in that apartment." Dean said dangerously.

"Oh yeah," Meli antagonized him "and what do you think you saw?"

Dean didn't know exactly how to respond to that because he wasn't entirely sure what he'd seen. "It looked like you were doing— I don't know, somethin' not normal."

Meli squeaked a laugh "Not normal, but who's standards?"

"So what was it?" Sam asked politely "It's just that anytime we've seen someone do… something out of the ordinary, they acquired the ability by some not-so-nice means." He was trying to be reasonable, though Dean couldn't understand why. "The typre means that require someone to get hurt."

"Demons, witches, you name it." Dean retorted.

"Yeah, some other hunters explained all that to me a while back, it still keeps me up at night. But I've never gone near that stuff. Let the cowboys handle it, I say. Since you just _have_ to know, I discovered my little talent just over a year ago. Some nasty son of a bitch spirit got into my house and, I don't know, I just figured out that I could do this neat trick."

Dean was sure Sam was grateful when, for once, he stayed quiet.

"My guess is that you have some kind of ability to manipulate energies, right?"

"Kind of, by messing with their energies I can sort of clear their heads. Get them thinking clearly again. Spirits are made up almost entirely of emotion, internally anyway. So when they feel things it takes them over completely. That's why, no matter what mood they're in, lights flicker and things move. Why am I explaining this, you're hunters?"

"So you're psychic?" Dean asked, a little annoyed but trying to hide it.

"I don't know what I am, it's not like there are support groups for this kind of thing." Meli looked at the paper cup on the table in front of her, the water had turned a deep brown from the tea bag floating in it. "But I know that I'm helping. Once these people can think clearly again they can sometimes move on right then and there, since they're no longer bound by their anger or sadness. Other times I've helped them with a bit of unfinished business, it feels great. At least its not as brutal a burning bones."

"You're the friggin' Ghost Whisperer." Dean chuckled petulantly.

Meli ignored him, or at least tried to. He saw her bite her lip.

"What were you trying to do to that guy in the apartment?" Sam inquired.

She opened her mouth to answer but her phone began to chime and she asked him to excuse her for a moment.

When Meli had crossed to the other side of the dining room, Dean kicked Sam under the table. " _Ow_ , what the hell?"

"You buyin' any of this? Girl wakes up one day able to power down pissed of spirits, I don't think so."

"What's with you, why are you being such a jerk about this?"

"You saw what she did, you ever see a normal person do something like that?"

"You think she's dangerous?"

"I don't trust it, that's all I'm saying."

"She's a kid."

"Yeah, a kid who it looks like lives in a hotel, she hasn't mentioned her parents or anything and she skulks around abandoned buildings in the middle of the night."

Sam said nothing, just gave his brother a look that asked _remind you of anyone?_

Meli returned to the table and leaned against the chair she'd been sitting on. "I have to go take care of something, but tell you what. Since you two were nice enough to drive me back here and not blow my head off, why don't we continue this little chat tomorrow?"

With that, she snatched up her backpack which she'd dropped on the floor and walked off; they saw her turn towards the elevator.

When Sam had asked where they could find a cheap place to stay, the receptionist had told them they wouldn't find anywhere like the place they'd described—a motel, around for miles. And ten minutes later, Dean was sprawled on a bed in the colorful hotel staring up at the ceiling.

"Quit pouting" Sam said, flipping through a town paper.

"I'm tellin' you, Sammy, something ain't right about this."


	3. Not Quite Pie, But Close Enough

3: Coffee

At nine a.m. the next morning, Sam leaned against the passenger door of the Impala waiting for Dean. He had slept well and was feeling better than he had in weeks. Dean seemed to simply appear on the curb while he was watching the cloudless Florida sky.

"Where are we even going?" Sam asked.

"Back to that apartment building, I want to get another look around before that kid gets there."

Sam sighed and leaned his forearms on the hood of the car.

"What?" Dean asked flatly.

"Nothing."

"Look, I get it," Dean said "you want to believe her. But come on, man."

"But what if, Dean? What if she really has figured out something that we haven't?"

Dean wasn't able to get a word out before a high voice spoke behind them saying "Good morning. Walk with me."

They followed Meli across the street into the Town Center. She led them up the short Main Street to a Starbucks on the far corner by the clock tower. She directed them to a table on the sidewalk and went inside with the intention of getting something to wake her up. The November morning was crisp and mild, a blissful change from the already harsh weather of the Midwest. The brothers were able to shed their jackets and sit comfortably in the sun, both trying hard to ignore how out of place they felt in this seemingly picture-perfect town square. There was a wine store and a stuffy-looking boutique on one side of the street and I jewelers and lounge bar on the other.

"This place must seem damn near posh compared to the places you normally stay, huh?" Meli appeared beside them and began to wordlessly distribute food items and beverages.

"You didn't have to," Sam insisted "really."

"Don't worry about it." Meli gave him a warm smile .

"What do you mean where we normally stay?"

"I know who you two are— Sam and Dean Winchester."

This grabbed their attention. They said nothing, but Meli seemed to be able to read their expressions.

"Like I said, a few hunters have been through here since I started doing this, I heard rumors."

Again, they said nothing; Sam's eyes flickered to Dean and back again.

"I got a little curious, so I looked you up. Found some interesting stuff."

"I can only imagine." Dean muttered.

"Trust me," Meli said with a sarcastic edge "no you can't. Then there's those books."

Sam resisted the urge to groan, but Dean couldn't hold it back. Those damned books.

"I haven't read many of them, but your reputation precedes you."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw Dean peek into the paper bag Meli had placed in front of him and subtly lick his lips. Whatever was inside had obviously grabbed his interest, probably by its smell, but it seemed some principle within the older Winchester was arguing that he shouldn't eat it. Sam did notice with a laugh that his brother begrudgingly sipped at his coffee nonetheless.

"So where did we leave off?" Meli asked, pulling a chunk off her scone and nibbling at it.

"I wanted to ask you about why you were at the apartments last night." Sam answered.

"I caught wind of something there from a guy I did a job for last month and I went to check it out. From what I gather, the previous owners sold it back to the city about six months back, but I don't think it had anything to do with the haunting. Actually, I'm pretty sure the sale is what brought that ghost around, like, he's been there for a while but the change in the environment woke him up. But I can't be sure."

"You seem like you know your stuff." Dean said, giving in and taking a bite out of the cherry filled pastry.

"I've always been into the paranormal," Meli confessed "which is probably a good thing. I've been trying to draw this ghost out for almost two weeks; he's shy and not completely aware of what's going on. I was going to take my time last night, but that didn't work out. I tried to rush it," she gave a bitter laugh "you saw how well that went. I couldn't hold him. What about you? Weston isn't exactly on the way to anywhere, so what brings the famous Winchesters all the way down here?"

Sam gave it a moment of thought. "You, I guess."

"I'm flattered."

"We were in Jacksonville helping out a friend of a friend when we heard about a weird string of unsolved hauntings that people said were just 'going away.'" Dean said, complete with air quotes. "We figured, we've never heard of anything like that, so why not check it out."

"Well, they are just 'going away,'" Meli mimicked the air quotes "they've been moving on."

"And it's been you the whole time?" Sam asked.

"Like I said, for about a year."

"You can't get anything out of the ghost, have you checked town records or anything?" Dean asked, tearing off another mouthful of pastry, Sam was relieved to hear him being pleasant.

"I've looked through some of the stuff I can get my hands on, but most city records are off limits, you can't exactly find them at the library. Not that I haven't tried. What I do know is that there is no public record of any deaths occurring on that property, and the city is only eighteen years old as it is, so there wasn't a whole lot to go through. I tried to check for anything in the surrounding area, but it's not easy for me to make trips out of town very often."

"Can't your parents take you?" Sam asked, head tilting slightly.

Meli made a nervous sound that could have been meant as a laugh. "I'm kind of on my own right now, so I work with what I have."

"Wait, you mean you don't have parents?" Dean asked. Sam recognized a familiar tone in his voice.

"Everyone has parents, Dean," Meli answered shortly "that's how babies are made."

"Don't be cute. You can't be older than, what, seventeen?"

"Eighteen, actually."

"So where the hell's your family?"

"Somewhere near Tallahassee, I suspect." She said this as though it meant almost nothing to her. "My brother goes to FSU."

"Then how come you're down here?" Sam asked, concern rising in his chest. It was always unsettling to meet someone who was still so young completely on their own.

"I grew up here. Ben got into school and they made plans to move away to be closer to him at college. I decided to stay here."

"Bull." Dean stated.

Meli seemed wholly uninterested in his disbelief of her explanation and waved it off with a flip of her hand.

"You're lucky you're eighteen—" Dean began.

"Or what," Meli laughed "you'd call the cops, see me thrown into the system? Yeah, that really seems like the smart thing to do. The lady who owns the hotel owes me a favor, so she lets me stay there. I do odd jobs for her, and sometimes I charge for my _services_. Not the most upstanding thing to do, but a girl has to make a living, right?"

"As long as you're not in trouble, it's not our business." Sam amended politely. "But we may be able to help you get a look at those records."

"How?" Meli asked skeptically "You're not any sort of officials."

Dean gave her a confident grin. "That's never been a problem."


	4. Assumptions

_**A/N**_ _The brothers discover something about Meli's job that they do not approve of, something that could endanger her life. I tried to capture just a little of that teenage angst, but not too much. Ha!_

 _Enjoy!_

 **4: Assumptions**

Twenty-seven hours later, Meli paced back and forth in front of a side door to City Hall. Anxiety was building in her that someone would come around the corner and find her lurking. And what would be her excuse? _Oh, sorry, a couple of monster hunters impersonating law enforcement officers told me to wait back here for one of them to open the door so we can take a look at some old town records. Why? Because my life gets weirder by the hour!_

She bit her lip and nudged the ground with the toe of her shoe. It felt like a year and a day had gone by before she heard the door clack open behind her, making her jump. Dean stood in the doorway, graphite grey suit jacket over his arm, nodding his head for her to slip inside, eyes darting around the back parking lot. Meli slid past him into the dim hallway lined with offices, gripping at the hem of her jacket. What the hell was she even doing here, what had she been thinking?

"Took you long enough" she complained.

"Can it." Dean said in a sharp whisper "Just be grateful we let you tag along."

She wanted to argue, but there wasn't much to say. Dean was right; he and Sam had been nice enough not to hijack her job from her in the first place and now they were taking an even bigger risk by letting her come with them now.

"Right," she muttered under her breath "thanks." She was surprised to find she meant it.

Dean led her up a few hallways and a flight of stairs to a room lined with filing cabinets. Sam was seated at an old computer, scrolling through pages of what looked like old newspaper articles. They stepped in and Dean made sure to close the blinds on the window that looked out into the hall.

Sam pulled a chair up next to him and said to Meli "Have a seat."

She did so and asked what he was looking at.

"Checking for the usual stuff. Deaths in the area, mostly, and branching out from there."

"Find anything?"

"Not yet," Sam looked at her sympathetically "there may not be anything to find."

Dean piped up impatiently "We don't have forever here, guys."

Sam hushed him with a glare, turning back to the screen.

Meli sighed, feeling hopelessness creep up on her. "That's fine, Sam. In that case, I'll figure something out."

They spent a little under an hour in that records room, only as much time as they felt that could risk, Sam and Meli at the computer looking for any articles that may have had even the slightest relevance, while Dean picked over a few choice files. Their search was fruitless, though Meli was amused to find out was a speedy reader Sam was. When she asked him where he'd learned to do that he replied with "Law school prep."

Near the end of the hour Sam gave a sigh as he reached the end of yet more search results.

"Is that really the last of them?" Meli asked.

"Afraid so, sorry."

Meli tried to put on a smile despite the weight that settled in her.

Dean crossed to the window and peered out through the blinds. "If that's it," he said, hitching a thumb to the door "we'd better not push our luck."

"Yeah," Meli consented "let's bail."

When Meli stepped out of the Impala in the hotel lot, her mind unconsciously began compiling a list of things she would need to draw out the ginger haired man at the empty tenement. She tried not to worry just yet about whether she could afford them. Was there such a thing as an economy séance?

She brought the brothers up to her room. There were things scattered everywhere, it was hard to tell where one object ended and the next began. Books lay open on every surface, clothes were strewn about— most needing to be washed, and half burned ritual candles sat abandoned on the small table.

"Sorry it didn't pan out." Sam said, sounding like he just wanted to say something nice to her. It was sweet of him, but there wasn't any need to baby her.

"No worries, I've done more than a simple cross-over with less to go on." Saying this reassured Meli, like she had reaffirmed to herself that she was capable.

"More of _what,_ exactly?" Dean asked, crossing his arms, once again wearing a face of disapproval.

Meli hesitated, feeling a flutter "Nothing, really" she lied casually. "It's just that not _every_ job is as simple as this one."

Something about Dean's expression changed from disapproving to angry. "What kind of crap have you been getting yourself into, kid?"

Sam seemed equally curious, and he showed it by not reining his brother in when he snapped at her.

"Do I actually have to explain angry spirits to a couple of seasoned hunters?" Meli asked sarcastically.

"Possessions." They stated the word flatly and in sync.

"Well," Meli tried to choose her words carefully "yeah."

"You've been messing with evil entities?" Sam didn't so much ask as tell her out right. A note in his voice betrayed his unhappiness at the idea. But what did it matter?

"I can pull them out of people, I've done it a few times."

"Son of a bitch." Dean jammed his hands into his pockets. "That's why you keep runnin' in to hunters."

"So," Sam said, seeming to grasp the whole reality "that's the full extent of what you do."

"Yep." Meli felt a spark of pride at the word.

"Well you need to stop, now." Dean didn't so much warn as threaten.

Meli laughed a little at him. "Why?"

"Because the more you do this, the more hunters are gonna show up in your life, and they— _we_ bring nothing but trouble."

Meli would have had to have been completely without her senses not to notice the plea in every inch of him. It was the first time she'd seen anything other than sourness on his face.

Sam spoke up from where he still stood by the door. "What he means is that where hunters go, monsters follow. You could get hurt. Or someone could decide that your abilities are a threat. Most hunters wouldn't hesitate to shoot a kid."

Meli got the feeling she wasn't fully understanding their meaning despite the warnings. "I can do something that not many —if any— other people can, for people that the rest of the world, including you _hunters,_ have written off."

"This crusade isn't worth your life," Dean pressed "trust me."

Meli scoffed bitterly "What the hell do you know about my life?"

"What's there to know? You're just another spoiled kid from the suburbs."

"Dean, come one…" Sam stepped in.

"Somebody has to say it." He glared at Meli, green eyes burning. "You ran away from your family, for some probably stupid reason, and now you're risking your life to prove something. You say things like _you don't know me,_ but I got a pretty good idea, kid. I'm telling you, drop this."

"You don't know crap about me, Dean." She mentally kicked herself when she felt tears prick her eyes, her mind wandering to things she'd rather not have remembered just then. "You can go to hell."

Dean looked like he wanted to say something but quickly shut his mouth when a single, traitorous tear slid down Meli's face.

"Thanks for your help, boys," she said, forcing a smile she didn't feel "I got it from here. It was nice to meet you, but I think you should go."

Dean threw his hands up and strode out of the hotel room, shoving past Sam and letting the door slam behind him. Sam looked back apologetically at Meli before pursuing his brother.

"Stupid Winchesters," Meli spat through clenched teeth "you can both go to hell!"

Insulted and feeling more than a little pathetic— and yes, even a little misunderstood, she let stubborn tears drip down her cheeks. She heard a voice carrying from the front parking lot down below and stumbled to throw the window open to listen.

"Dean, come on!" Sam persisted to his brother, blocking him from getting into the Impala's driver's seat. Meli could suddenly see all of the douchey pretense in driving a car like that. _Hey, guess who just wants attention!_

"Forget it," Dean replied, shouting though he probably didn't mean to. "If that stupid kid wants to get herself _killed,_ why should we stick around to watch it happen?"

"We've seen young hunters before, and Meli doesn't even want to be a hunter. She just wants to help who she can."

"Well," Dean droned sarcastically "good luck to her!" He knocked Sam aside with his shoulder and stooped into the car.

Sam gave a deep, exasperated sign and began walking the opposite way as Dean drove off, probably on his way to the tenement— though Meli couldn't care just then. Frustrated and a little tired, she flopped onto the stiff couch and closed her eyes— she just needed to rest for a moment.

 _ **A/N**_ _Why is Dean being so difficult?Next time we'll discover the real reason Meli is on her own, and maybe Sam can help us see things from his brother's perspective._


	5. Histories

**_AN:_**

 _Greetings Reader,_

 _This time we're going to get a look at Meli's life before she began her work with earth-bound spirits. I hope it isn't too angsty. Meli is a teenager and so reserves the right to be a little bundle of angst if she chooses. I promise next time we'll get back to the plot, but for now, I hope you enjoy another chapter from Meli's perspective as she explains to Sam about what happened one year ago._

 **5\. Histories**

When Meli opened her eyes it was to a pitch black hotel room. She had fallen asleep and the sun had set nearly an hour ago. She swung her legs off the couch and stood to stretch her tired muscles. The only light in the room came through the open window and she stepped to it to look down on the parking lot. The Impala hadn't returned.

 _Good,_ she thought, _its better they're not in my way_.

She may not have been sorry to see the Winchesters go, but she wasn't particularly pleased with herself for parting with them on such a bitter note. They had, after all, shown her a respect that no other hunter ever had. Meli shrugged into her jacket and pulled her boots on, she needed air.

The November night was crisped with a sharp chill, and people thought Florida couldn't get cold. Meli, bag thrown over her shoulder, began aimlessly wandering up a random street. It didn't matter where she ended up, she knew most of the town by heart so it wouldn't be difficult to find her way back. She circled round the block across from the hotel and found herself standing under the clock tower in Town Center, the musical bonging of it bringing her out of her fog as it struck seven pm.

There were still plenty of people on Main Street, most moving in and out of the few restaurants in sight. She continued the rest of the way up the street and across a wide parking lot to the lake and the pavilion. The bar across the lawn was buzzing, music blaring and people shouting. The pavilion was a large concrete structure made to look like a Grecian stage. Steps led down to the first stair that led up to the stage floor. Five wide cylindrical pillars held up the domed roof and Meli took a seat at the base of one to look out at the glassy lake beyond. She closed her eyes and focused on the splashing of the fountain in the distance, there was something nagging at her about the ghost in the tenement that she couldn't place. It felt like there was something so obvious that she was missing, but what?

"Hey."

Meli sat up, startled by the voice that greeted her where she thought she was alone. She got to her feet and turned to see Sam Winchester giving her an apologetic smile.

"You scared me!" she hissed.

Sam gave a laugh "And you hunt ghosts."

Meli rolled her eyes, she didn't mind his teasing. He was much easier to tolerate than his brother. She was about to ask where he'd come from, but the beer in his hand answered that question. She breathed a resigned sigh and leaned her shoulder against the cold stone of the pillar.

"You know, I'm not really as _stupid_ as Dean thinks." She told herself she didn't care if Sam knew this or not, but she said it anyway.

Sam shook his head "He didn't mean it like that."

"Yes he did." Meli pushed back, a hint of aggression in her voice where she knew it was unwarranted, the same feeling of defensiveness creeping up on her.

"Dean is…" he didn't seem to know how to finish that statement.

"An ass." Meli quipped.

Sam huffed a laugh "He can be, but," there was a pause and Sam's gaze seemed to turn inward for a moment "he means well."

"I don't know him, we've only just met." She tried to be an adult about it. "Maybe I just put him off. I know I can have that effect on people."

When her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes against the unpleasant feeling that settled in her stomach at her own words, Sam seemed to notice. She was aware of his concerned eyes watching her as she nervously pulled at the hem of her knit beanie.

He spared her from having to elaborate by saying "Dean isn't as horrible as he can seem. He's sarcastic and reactionary, sure. But he's a good person."

"He's your big brother, of course you'd say that." Meli muttered, biting back her resentment.

"It's more than that. Dean and I spent our whole lives on the road with our dad. He was a hunter before us and raised us in the life. It was always Dean's job to look after me, you know, to protect his little brother. That protectiveness is so much a part of who he is that he can't separate from it. Even when it comes to stubborn teenage ghost whisperer he only just met. Do you understand?"

His voice was so earnest and sincere it made Meli feel guilty for being so bitter. As Sam's words set in she felt the uncomfortable prick of tears behind her eyes again and bit her lip to hold them back.

"So you're saying that he's everything a brother is _supposed_ to be. So much so, it even extends to someone like me— a spoiled brat from the suburbs." She shook her head slightly and forced a tiny smile "You're lucky to have a brother that cares _so_ much, Sam."

Sam nodded and even though he stood further in the shadows than she did, Meli could still make out the smile that came to his lips. "Yeah, I am."

"It must be nice to have someone you can count on." The words came without a hint of irony or resentment, much to Meli's surprise.

He must have picked up on the change in her, or maybe the implication of the statement because he asked gently "Didn't you say you have a brother?"

"I don't think you can really call him my brother," Meli said, the bitterness rushing back "especially not compared to you and Dean. Even if he is my twin."

"But we're a, um… unique case. Most siblings don't have to grow up the way we did."

"Yeah, but you love each other."

Same tilted his head, obviously a little confused "You don't care for your brother?"

Meli bit her lip so hard she was sure she'd break the skin. "No, Sam," she sighed "I loved my brother more than anyone in the world for as long as I could."

"What do you mean?"

" _All siblings fight,_ that's what all the grown-ups told me when we were kids. As if the way he treated me was normal." Her voice trailed away again as she unwillingly retreated into her own mind for a long moment, recalling against her will the way even the idea of her brother made her feel.

"I take it you weren't close." Sam said simply.

"It was more than that. He wasn't just unkind, he was cruel. He cut me down every chance he got; he said such _horrible_ things and took every opportunity to tell me I shouldn't have been born. Can you imagine what that's like?"

Meli looked from the lake to Sam's face, a burning heat rising to her face when she realized all she had said. Sam just watched her with, not pity, but sympathy in his eyes.

"Oh, god," she laughed nervously, fussing with her hair "I think I said too much."

"What about your parents?" Sam asked after a long silence.

Meli didn't know what to say, so she just gave an almost unperceivable shake of her head.

"You wanna talk about it?"

An unexpected wave of emotion swelled in her at his offer. It blocked her throat and brought tears to her eyes. How wonderful it was to have a sympathetic ear after all the crap she'd dealt with.

"Our mom died before we were even two years old and our dad never really recovered. He later married a woman that tore the family apart. My stepmom, though I hesitate to use the word 'mom' in regard to her, came between my brother and I and I think she broke my dad. I guess she somehow convinced my brother that Dad loved me more and it set off this horrible cycle in him, you know?"

Sam nodded that he was following.

"I never knew if he really hated me from the start like he said, or if it started with her, I can't remember a time when we got along. And the way she was with my dad, it was like she took his backbone. He was the only one that was ever on my side, but he'd never let her know. So when they were both using me like a punching bag he would just walk away. He loved me, I know he did, but it wasn't enough. And she held all the power." Meli didn't bother to stop the tears now.

"They sent your brother to college and left you behind. It's because of the things you can do, right?"

"I always knew I was a little different. I could sense and do things that I couldn't explain. I kept it hidden as long as I could. Over the years, spirits would pass through the house, as they do through most places, and I never understood why no one else ever knew they were there."

"Meli," Sam prodded gently "what happened last year?"

She wrapped her arms around herself, digging her fingers into the sleeves of her jacket. "I couldn't hide it anymore."

"Something evil got into your house, right?"

"Yeah, I put up subtle protection around the place over the years. Everything from magic to crosses, but this thing didn't even seem to notice." She paused for a moment gather herself. "It got a hold of my brother."

From the spot on the ground where she had fixed her eyes, Meli saw Sam's feet shift.

"And you pulled it out and _what?"_

"I destroyed it. It _had_ been human once, but it was too far gone. Totally unrecognizable… and beyond saving." Meli was sort of proud that she could tell him this with a sense of professionalism.

"You're stronger than I gave you credit for." Another voice, a gruff voice hoarse from the cold, chimed in from the pavilion steps. Dean, hands in his pockets, strolled across the vast stage floor to stand beside his brother. "They saw you do it, didn't they? Your dad and step-bitch saw you yank the bastard outta your brother."

Meli didn't bother to answer.

"It scared them, and that's why you stayed behind when they left town." Sam said.

She pulled in a steadying breath. "It didn't surprise me to figure out that there was actually something about me that could make my brother and his mom dislike me even more. But when my dad started looking at me like… _that,_ I just couldn't take it."

Meli saw Dean's emerald eyes soften and the tenseness in his shoulders relaxed as he sighed. "He looked at you like you were some kind of freak."

"Don't push her" Sam implored.

"Suddenly it was like all the years you'd been a family didn't matter anymore. He saw the kid he'd raised do something he never thought them capable of, and it scared the ever-loving crap outta him." Dean turned to Sam as he said this, and Meli watched them share a silent moment of what looked to her like understanding.

"Worst part is," Sam continued for him "you can't even comfort yourself with the knowledge that even though he was afraid of you— afraid _for_ you, he never stopped caring about you."

Meli finished their though privatly, _because he left anyway. They all did_.

A long and weighted silence passed between the three of them.

"See, Dean," Meli said, a sardonic smile on her small mouth "just because I grew up in the suburbs doesn't mean my life hasn't been just as painful as anyone else's. But I get up in the morning, same as I always have, and I put myself in the path of hunters and evil son-of-bitches like I never would have believed could have existed—"

"Because, god damn it, your life is gonna mean something, even if it's cut short."

The relief of being understood was not one Meli was very familiar with, as childish as it made her feel to admit that. But moreover, there was something about being finally understood by someone like Dean Winchester that brought such a sense of calm to Meli. The wetness on her face was beginning to sting, no matter how many times she wiped her eyes it kept coming back.

"Something like that." She hadn't realized she had been smiling. She lifted her hand in a lazy wave. "I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one night," she laughed at herself. "I'm going to head back."

As she crossed the pavilion floor to begin the walk back to the hotel, Dean called after her. "Hold up! I was gonna tell Sammy I'd been thinking about your case."

Meli sniffed a laugh "Well, don't strain yourself."

"Bite me. I think you've been goin' about it wrong. You've— we've only been looking at deaths and obits in the area, but—"

Something in Meli's mind seemed to click into place "What if the ginger man is featured in another kind of ad?"

Sam made a noise of agreement. "Yeah, we could check town functions, political staff lists, and public service awards. Broaden the search until something shakes loose."

"That's brilliant!" Meli exclaimed, her sense of mission sparking back to life.

"It's a plan, anyway." Dean said "We'll pick you up first thing in the morning and go back to the records office."

 **AN:**


End file.
